


Through A Father's Eyes

by hockeyiris (irismustang)



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-17
Updated: 2008-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-21 05:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30016920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irismustang/pseuds/hockeyiris
Summary: Written for the prompt: "Anakin looking at Luke with his own eyes at the end of Jedi."[Please note this deals with Vader/Anakin dying at the end of VI, but I don't entirely see it as a major character death, and didn't tag as such since his Force ghost is there at the end (in whichever guise you wish to see him as).]





	Through A Father's Eyes

His eyes didn't want to focus. Every breath rattled in his damaged lungs, and not even the machines that had kept him alive for nearly twenty years, the entirety of his son's life, could save Anakin now. He didn't want his body to be saved. His spirit had been saved, that was all that mattered. He was his own man again, broken and dying as he was. And without the lenses of his mask, without the impenetrable black wall he kept over his prematurely aged face, he could see his son.

He could see Padme in him, in his fire and determination. He saw himself in Luke, in the sandy blond of his hair, the stubborn set of his jaw, the obstinate determination to do what he felt was right... though Anakin had lost that long ago. The conviction in a religion long dead was all Obi-Wan, but Anakin still couldn't have asked for a better man to show Luke the ways of the Force. 

Luke's eyes were shining, despair rolling off of him like a great wave and Anakin's heart beat slower, but Anakin was content. Luke would recover and move on. He would heal, he would help his sister repair the Republic, and he would be a great Jedi.

As he drew his final breath, he felt his spirit shed the shell of the man he had once been, flee the body that had been more machine than man.

Now he was free, now he felt whole for the first time in far too long. He felt at peace. The Empire might not be completely gone, not yet, but the serpent's venom would eventually be cleansed from the Galaxy. Palpatine, Sidious, was dead. Luke had done it. Luke had succeeded.

~*~

Everyone else was celebrating, the entire galaxy was celebrating, but Luke was not. 

Anakin watched Luke light the funeral pyre, watched as his empty body was consumed by the fire, circuits and gears melting under the extreme heat. He silently apologized to the forest and the creatures within for it, but he had to thank Luke for not leaving his body to be consumed by the destruction of the Death Star. 

When his body was gone, he felt the true call of the Force, felt it run through him, around him, caressing him as a long-awaited lover finally returned. He was a Jedi once more, welcomed home after his dying moment of salvation.

Obi-Wan had waited, and Master Yoda, and when they beckoned, he joined, taking translucent forms to observe the victory celebration and the last destruction of Vader's mechanical remains.

Luke had already been watching the elder Jedi, but when Anakin took his form, fully human once more, Luke's eyes were instantly drawn to him. Their eyes met, and Anakin smiled.

Connected as he was, Anakin could see Luke in a way his fading eyes had been unable to appreciate, and his heart felt as if it would burst if it could, so overwhelmed with love for a son he should have known. 

Perhaps he would be able to linger this way, to offer guidance, or at least be a silent observer. Perhaps he wouldn't, perhaps he would lose himself in the flow of the Force. No matter what, he would go happily. The future was uncertain, but it was there for Luke to forge for himself. 

And the father would wait for the son, to be united, and reunited, when the time came.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes ok the Sequels decided something that might be at odds with what I wrote, but I wrote this in 2008. Regardless of what anyone might feel for the sequels, I wrote this long before they existed and what is fanfiction but a way for fans to write what they wish existed in their favorite works? When I was making a few edits for this, I wanted to add moments about Leia, because Leia deserves so much, but ultimately I chose to leave the focus on Luke, as this had been a prompt from a dear friend and the request had been about Luke and Anakin. If anyone wanted Anakin's thoughts on Leia (of which there are many) I would be happy to write a little coda.


End file.
